Sixteen composers, aged between 24 and 63, have been chosen as winners of Wigmore Hall’s Lockdown Commissions Scheme. Chosen from over 700 applications, each winning composer – over the age of 18 and never before commissioned by Wigmore Hall – will write new music to be premiered at the hall over the next four years.

The 16 winning composers are: Patricia Alessandrini (51, Italian), Francesco Antonioni (49, Italian), Katherine Balch (29, American), Nicholas Bentz (27, American), Jocelyn Campbell (30, British), Alexander Campkin (36, British), Tom Coult (32, British), Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade (32, British), Lawrence Dunn (30, British), Samantha Fernando (36, British), Thomas Gibbs (26, British), Stewart Goodyear (43, Canadian), Hilda Paredes (63, British/Mexican), Alex Paxton (30, British), Shruthi Rajasekar (24, American) and Alex Tay (26, British).

John Gilhooly, Director of Wigmore Hall, said: ‘The Lockdown Commissions Scheme is the largest single initiative Wigmore Hall has ever undertaken to find new voices, and a fitting way to celebrate an important anniversary as we look to the future.  It has been a great joy to hear new music of such quality and invention from such diverse talents across the globe.  I am looking forward to programming the premieres with these new friends.I must thank the distinguished members of the jury for their time and expertise.  I am also particularly grateful to the Marchus Trust for underpinning this scheme with a lead gift, and supporting Wigmore Hall in this major new initiative for contemporary music.’

The jury which selected the winners comprised composers Richard Baker, Charlotte Bray, Daniel Fardon, Dani Howard, Daniel Kidane, Laurence Osborn, Josephine Stephenson, Freya Waley-Cohen, Errollyn Wallen, the classical music programmer, Toks Dada, and the Chief Executive of the Royal Philharmonic Society, James Murphy.